Going to the Temple club was the Ideal concert closing for 2019. The four-day long Temple Fest (26-29 of December 2019) covered many different rock genres of the greek underground so we all had something to choose from. I preferred the first day when ALLOCHIRIA was the headlining band along with some great support acts (HALF GRAMME OF SOMA, MESSAGE IN A CLOUD, DEVIL FLOWER MANTIS).

02devilflowermantis“Waking up from a distant dream…”

The doors opened at 20:00 and only 30’ later the Athenians DEVIL FLOWER MANTIS got on stage offering some great heavy psych rock for the few that were in the club at that time. They started with an instrumental (previously unreleased) track and then played their recent Ep. Desert riffing along with some ear catching melodies made us move and groove while we ordered the first beer of the night.

setlist:intro / beyond borders / the voidwalker / back on the hunt / black fever

03MESSAGEINACLOUD
“cloudy bipolar trips…”

Then we had change of mood as the beautiful atmospheric melodies of MESSAGE IN A CLOUD covered the club. With a new member on keyboards (Stelios Proestakis, bass on Tenants). They took us to a nice instrumental trip with their melancholic sound that combines slow atmospheric parts that are nicely blended with some blast-beat outbursts. With only thirty minutes in hand they focused on their album “Anassa” (best moment my favorite “I decomposed a song today”) and left an unreleased track for the end (“Bipolar Order”) of their show. I hope they get into studio soon…

setlist: the need and the needle / you used to die in my hands / when we were / I decomposed a song today / bipolar order

04HALFGRAMMEOFSOMA
“Our groove is black…”

And then we had the groove, the black one, the good one! HALF GRAMME OF SOMA put us in the mood -before they even get on stage- with a crazy inspired choice for intro (“push it” by Salt N Pepa!) and then a handful of great songs (all taken from “Groove Is Black” album) adding two new songs along the way. Sound could be a bit better but it didn’t really matter, many bodies moved and linked by the band’s music, no matter if they played the blues oriented “Red Kiss” or any up tempo hard rock song (like “Mega Rollo Booster”) 

setlist: gloomy eggplant / red kiss / doofie / “new” / groove is black / “new” / mega rollo booster / no man’s god / drowned

05ALLOCHIRIA
“for joy on tears shed to boost a caring image…”

A few minutes after eleven the time had come to watch the headliners of the day. This time ALLOCHIRIA had no visuals or any retro black and white b-movie on the background but there was no need actually as their music fell on us and kept us mesmerized until the end. For one more time the band was great, the sound was ideal, each track was a small emotional stress for those who are not familiar with their style (a nice blend of post hardcore and sludge). The guest appearance of Sofia Sarri was a nice surprise but what I liked even more was the fact that we had the chance to hear three new (yet unreleased) tracks.

Setlist: “new” / little defeats, tiny victories / “new” / lifespotting / counting fives / archetypal attraction to circular things / “new” / denouement

® report/photos/videos: Konstantinos Mindcrimek Vlachos

video ALLOCHIRIA:
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video HALF GRAMME OF SOMA:
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video MESSAGE IN A CLOUD:
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video DEVIL FLOWER MANTIS:
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